Elsewhere in the Middle East, in Kuwait and the
United Arab Emirates, police have used drones
to order people to stay inside. In Dubai, which
is part of the UAE, they have been used to spray
disinfectant on streets.
In Saudi Arabia, drones have reportedly
been used in some public places to check
people’s temperatures.
Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, an expert on
technology and privacy laws at the Israel
Democracy Institute, says it would be a violation
of constitutional rights if the police used drones
to look into private homes. Israeli security forces
are also barred from using facial recognition
technology, except to surveil Palestinians in the
occupied territories.
She’s alarmed by the speed at which authorities
and technology companies have embraced
new surveillance tactics in response to the
pandemic. She says her “biggest fear” is that
such technologies are here to stay.
“First of all, they are here to stay because the
corona is here to stay,” at least for another year,
though it may come and go, she said. “After the
corona is gone, we’re going to get used to the
fact we’re using those technologies.”